1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of multi-lingual data processing and retrieval. More specifically, this invention relates to an apparatus and method for allowing a user to access and create a particular work in multiple languages and a variety of formats.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the international world becomes more close-knit, the need for and value of multi-lingual material is rapidly growing. Currently, people interested in reading a document in more than one language are limited to dual language translation books. Many foreign language teaching aids employ such a book by having the text of the first language presented adjacent to the corresponding text of the second language on each page. U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,111 (""111 patent) describes such a limiting teaching aid.
The teaching aid described in the ""111 patent displays the original text, a word-for-word translation, and a translation following the normal rules of syntax and grammar. For example, a Spanish/English workbook would have a line in Spanish with both the literal and contextually correct English translations below or beside the Spanish line. In this manner, English speaking students attempting to learn Spanish have a method of comparing the two different languages on a line by line basis as they become more familiar with the new language. With the ""111 patent, however, a reader is limited to the translation combinations provided by each publication. The reader does not have a choice of languages employed by the translating teaching aid. Thus, a reader""s only option may be Machine Translation. Such an automatic translation service, provided by companies such as Systran, translates the text with a dictionary like reference source and with grammatical rules. However, only an 80% approximate accuracy may typically be expected in a translation of a general text. With more complex texts, such as poetry or jokes, more accurate translations are only a dream even as perceived in the future.
Although the dual translation books are very helpful as foreign language teaching aids, the amount of time and effort required to prepare multiple correlating translations of entire documents limits their availability for other uses both in the scope of material covered and the languages in which any given material is made available. Because of this, many publications allowing a comparison between two languages are available only in the most widely used languages and only for commonly referenced material (e.g. English and German, German and French, . . . , but not Latin and Fijian, or Latin and Samoan).
The lack of sufficient translations and combinations of translations is particularly evident in countries around the globe where many different languages and dialects are spoken. Although it may be possible to obtain translations from numerous less spoken languages into widely spoken languages, such as English, good or reasonable translations between two less widely spoken languages are difficult if not impossible to find. For example, for a reader to compare a work published in less used Language A (perhaps, his or her native language) with an unfamiliar less used Language B, the reader often must work through a widely used Language C (Language C xe2x80x9clinksxe2x80x9d Languages A and B). To compare Language A to Language B, the reader must obtain a Language A to Language C translation and also a Language C to Language B translation since it is typically impossible to find a direct translation from Language A to Language B. Note that the reader must be familiar with Language C for a successful xe2x80x9clinkxe2x80x9d between Language A and Language B. Thus, the scope of material and number of works available to a reader interested in comparing two less widely used languages is dramatically limited to works that have been translated from the widely spoken Language C into each of the less spoken Languages A and B.
A specific example will more clearly illustrate the problem. A document made available in three languages, such as English, French, and German, and presented in the above described direct comparison method of the ""111 patent requires three publications: a publication having an English to French translation, a publication having an English to German translation, and a publication having a French to German translation. Adding a language, such as Japanese, requires more than one additional publication. Instead, six publications are now required for direct comparisons between any two of the four languages: an English/French translation, an English/German translation, an English/Japanese translation, a French/German translation, a French/Japanese translation, and a German/Japanese translation. Further, for a single document to be published allowing comparisons between any two of ten languages, forty-five separate publications would be required to cover all possible language combinations of the document. See the table of FIG. 1 for the number of translations required for a direct comparison of a text in any 2 of n number of languages.
Monolingual or multi-lingual users seeking a comparison of material in multiple languages are often unsuccessful in finding publications containing the desired material in a specific language combination, particularly when the desired material is not widely accessed and/or one or both of the languages are not widely spoken. Thus, a system comprising a foreign language database that allows a user to create a custom-made publication suited to the user""s own needs by allowing the user to choose the languages a document is displayed in is desirable. Such a database may be networked or media based.
Some foreign language databases do exist, but none are known to allow a user to access a document simultaneously in multiple languages. For example, some software programs, including both operating systems and application programs, are available in multiple language versions and allow the user to choose the language used for the display. Such software programs store the application program in one of the provided languages as a default, but give the user a choice of language for operation of the program when the program is installed. Once the language is selected, all future operations of the program will progress in the selected language until the language selection is changed. In a similar manner, a single piece of software can be sold for use in multiple markets encompassing several different languages. This eliminates the need for independent versions of the same software for each separate language.
Some specific examples of software programs using a database allowing the user to choose the program language include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,365,315 and 5,583,761. U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,315 describes a system allowing an operator of computer-controlled equipment to choose the language the computer will display instructions and information regarding the system conditions. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,761 describes an Application Program Language Translator which allows application programs involving user interfacing to be displayed in a language selected by the user.
Other data processing systems allow concurrent access to a database by multiple users with each user able to communicate with the database (access documents, insert information, etc.) in a different language. An example is seen in the database described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,782. When initially accessing the database described in the ""782 patent, each user selects a preferred language and from then on all information retrieved from and submitted to the database by the user is in the preferred language. A linkage and translation system within the database ensures that all the related versions (i.e. the other language translations of the accessed document) of the modified documents within the database system are updated to reflect the changes entered by the user in his preferred language. However, as with the above operating systems and application software programs, each user has to use a single language at any given time as the user is engaging and communicating with the database.
Foreign language databases are also often used for translation purposes. For example, the user can enter a word or phrase in one language, then choose a second language, and the program will xe2x80x9ctranslatexe2x80x9d the word or phrase by searching the database and finding its equivalent in the second language. The same such type of database can be used as a foreign language dictionary. The user enters a word in a first language, selects the second language, and the definition is displayed in the second language. However, this scheme does not allow a user to view an entire work in multiple languages simultaneously. Instead, the translation capabilities are generally limited to individual words and/or phrases. Additionally, translation programs typically provide a literal translation rather than a closer contextual translation. For example, poetry, humor in jokes, philosophy, riddles, ethnographies, recipes, legends, oral histories, rhymes, and particularly idioms are generally beyond the reach of such automatic translation systems. It would be advantageous if a user could access and create a work in multiple languages with each translated or user created piece maintaining more of the spirit meant, the meaning and the content of the original work. In other words, works of poetry, philosophy, humor of jokes, riddles, ethnographies, recipes, legends, oral histories, rhymes, and particularly idioms are beyond the reach of such automatic translation systems. Thus, the approach to maintain more of the spirit meant, the meaning and the content extends and creates the contextual meaning beyond just a word per word translation.
It is appreciated that a system allowing a user to access and create a foreign language database to obtain and make a particular work in multiple languages simultaneously would be desirable. This type of system would be beneficial to many users including students of many disciplines and monolingual and multi-lingual users attempting to find or create a particular work for archival or content comparison in multiple languages, particularly if one of the languages was less used, making it difficult to find publications of works in that particular language.
The present invention describes an apparatus and method for allowing a user to access and create a database for the retrieval or development of a particular work (for example, poetry, jokes, philosophy, riddles, rhymes, recipes, ethnographies, legends, oral histories, idioms, etc.) in multiple languages. A database stores multiple translations of a work, including a first presentation of the work in a first language and a second presentation of the work in a second language. An accessing and creation device is coupled to the database and is used to retrieve and construct the first and second presentations of the work from the database.
The database stores translations of documents in multiple languages and a variety of formats, including written text, audio sound tracks, and video imagery. A user can access and create the database to simultaneously retrieve or make multiple translations for the contextual content of a particular work. Further, the user can choose to have the multiple translations presented in different multi-media""s and mediums. For example, the user may choose to have a work displayed in a written text in two or more separate languages, or in text in one language and in audio in a separate language.